


This Is A Robbery, Put Your Hand In Mine

by disgraceRavenclaw



Category: Mystery Skulls Animated
Genre: College Student AU, M/M, Robbery, Tags to be added, and also a bad influence, arthur's dad is mentioned, its from a prompt list, its gay babes, mention of drugs, no beta we die like men, so i have no plans for it which is why this is so lacking in tags, this is also a stream of consciousness piece
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-16
Updated: 2018-11-16
Packaged: 2019-08-24 13:39:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,721
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16641207
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/disgraceRavenclaw/pseuds/disgraceRavenclaw
Summary: Lewis had to double check to make sure he was seeing this right. He opened the window. Someone was hanging by his windowsill, fingerless gloves most likely failing to keep his fingers warm. Lewis looked down at who was clinging to the window.It was a man with spiky hair, and two strands of hair that stuck straight up. He made noises of struggled. He must have heard the window open, because he looked up at Lewis. “Shit,” he cursed quietly to himself. “Hello,” he called louder this time.





	This Is A Robbery, Put Your Hand In Mine

**Author's Note:**

> Cheesy title? check  
> Arthur being sarcastic and having a difficult upbringing? check  
> Lewis being alive? check  
> Homosexuality? check  
> Humor where it probably shouldn't be? check
> 
> My god, this reads just like a disgraceRavenclaw classic

Lewis wouldn’t have been awake if it weren’t for that extra coffee he’d convinced himself to drink. He was studying for midterms, and it was killing him. Why did he have to have a double major?

Either way, at least he lived on his own. He decided to live in a dorm on campus for the first year, and hated every second of it. His roommates never cleaned, never cooked, never stopped making insane amounts of noise. It was like they were raised by monsters. Lewis got sick of that quick.

Now, thanks to some savings, he finally had an apartment all to himself, a job, and a steady footing on his giant path to being an adult. It all felt so official. It was never dirty, because he cleaned up after himself. He had the time and means to try out new recipes. He was having a blast, if he just ignored the stress of college.

Back to the present time. Lewis had stayed awake longer to study for his test the next morning, and he’d overestimated the amount of coffee he would need. Usually he didn’t caffeinate, but he needed a little extra something to help him get through the textbook without passing out.

However, he didn’t realize coffee had so much caffeine in it. It was gross, and bitter, and he would definitely have to get a better tasting, less caffeinated drink next time. However, he could only lie in bed and regret his choices as he shuffled back and forth under the covers.

Lewis sighed to himself. “I guess I could take a walk,” he said quietly to himself. He got up, put on some warmer clothes and a pair of shoes, and went out to take a walk. He appreciated the night, but he was really more of an early riser.

Still, the stars in tempo looked beautiful. It was a shame he couldn’t see as many, due to the bright city lights. He took his time walking, listening to his own footsteps on the sidewalk. He just wanted to go around the block once, to get the energy out of his system, but then he realized he didn’t have his phone on him.

He couldn't go out into the city without his phone. He personally hadn’t seen anything insidious, but you never know when you might need to call the police, or an ambulance. Lewis turned back, speed-walking back to his apartment.

He entered the room, and sped up the stairs (carefully, of course- he didn’t want to slip and fall). Opening the door to his apartment, he walked around to look for his phone.

He tried looking in the kitchen, but it wasn’t there. He checked on all the counters, and even in the cupboards and sink. He doubted it was in his refrigerator. While he was looking, he noticed he was out of yeast, and would have to buy more. He wrote that down on a dry erase board on the refrigerator.

He went to check his room. His phone wasn’t in the closet, it wasn’t on his bed. He checked under his bed, but it wasn’t there either. When he stood back up, he saw it across the room on his desk.

Right, of course. He was so stupid! He’d been studying there, and went straight to bed. He walked over to his desk, and picked up his phone. His eyes lifted up to look out the window. Beautiful night. Empty streets. Orange hair.

Orange hair?

Lewis had to double check to make sure he was seeing this right. He opened the window. Someone was hanging by his windowsill, fingerless gloves most likely failing to keep his fingers warm. Lewis looked down at who was clinging to the window.

It was a man with spiky hair, and two strands of hair that stuck straight up. He made noises of struggled. He must have heard the window open, because he looked up at Lewis. “Shit,” he cursed quietly to himself. “Hello,” he called louder this time.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Arthur picked a house that belonged to a steady college student. He seemed to be well off, especially for someone still in school. Arthur had observed, through the window, that he had plenty of semi-valuable items. A small flatscreen, a computer that Arthur could tell was probably not THAT new, and even a few paintings. More importantly, this guy was so organized, he kept his wallet in the same drawer in his bedroom, every time he came back from his classes.

If you asked Arthur how he got into the crime business, he would trace it back to his father first teaching him how to pickpocket someone. They were both fairly poor, so that’s how Arthur justified it. Every picked pocket was another meal on the table.

He excelled in it by the time he reached high school, and soon, some of the students he might have had a personal bias against saw their school supplies, their phones, occasionally their drugs if they abused substances, all going missing.

Stealing drugs was actually the easiest, Arthur noted, because nobody could report that their heroin had gone missing to the office. Plus, it always sold for way more. Arthur never used the stuff though; he kept his body clean.

Mostly due to his dad being poor, he was ALSO poor, but somehow he managed to get into a good college. This Lewis guy wasn’t in any of his classes during his time, but he saw him in the food court occasionally, and seeing how he always had nice clothes, and sometimes brought very well made food from home, Arthur had decided he’d be a good target.

There was just one problem. This Lewis guy rarely kept his valuables ON him. He was all safety; his vest had pockets where he kept his things, which was way harder to pickpocket. Arthur knew this, because this was where HE kept his things. Takes a thief to know a thief, and how to ward them off of him or catch them in the act.

So Arthur, never having actually robbed a house before, decided to apply logic to the situation. Wait until he leaves the house, get into the bedroom, which had the most stuff, and bolt. Turns out, it wasn’t that easy.

This guy never left his house other than to go with his friends, and in that time, he took most things of value - even his computer, since he was probably going to study. Didn’t seem like a huge party type. Still, you can’t steal SOME of the valuables. That puts them on guard, and makes it harder to steal the rest.

So, he had to wait until he went outside WITHOUT all his things. Luckily, tonight, Arthur had an opening. He was going out for a walk, with nothing on his person. Arthur waited for him to walk a while, before he sprung into action.

Of course, there was a second problem. He hadn’t accounted for the weather. He expected this to be easier, really, so he didn’t think it would take until winter for him to be able to get into this guy’s house. He’d climbed windows before, mostly for illegal reasons OTHER than theft, like skipping school or sneaking back INTO school after skipping. However, he’d never gone it with numb fingers.

So, that’s how he got where he was. It was like that dumb record scratch meme. Arthur laughed to himself. “Yep, that’s me,” he struggled to say, trying to lighten the mood. “You’re probably wondering how I got into this situation.” He stayed there, hanging from a window ledge.

Suddenly, he heard the window _open._ Fuck. This guy couldn’t be back already. Was it a landlady or something? A maid? Not a maid, this guy wasn’t exactly LOADED or anything. Comfortable, maybe. Rich? No way. “Shit,” Arthur mumbled while looking up at Lewis. Time to defuse the tension and save his ass from suspicion.

“Hello!” He said, awkwardly. “Uh… would you like to hear about our lord and savior Jesus Christ?”

The man looked at him incredulously. “What are you doing outside my window?” He asked. Arthur kicked his feet playfully. “Can’t you tell? I’m just… hangin around.” Shit. the cold was practically eating away at his fingers. He was gonna--

Slip! There goes one hand. He shouted as he began swinging back and forth, trying hard to get his hand back up on the ledge. He reached up with all his strength. Fuck, he was like 4 stories high at this point. And he was below a dumpster in an alley. Not exactly the SAFEST place to land.

If he didn’t die, the hospital bills would give him a heart attack for sure. No way to steal enough to pay off a _hospital bill._

“You’re slipping!” the guy called out to Arthur. Arthur looked up at him, straining. “Oh fuck, really? How can ya tell?” he said, sarcastically. His other hand, the right one, was giving out too. This was really not good.

“You know,” Arthur said, trying to crack just one more joke before he probably died, “when people asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I don’t remember ‘pancake’ being one of those answers.” He laughed nervously, but as he began to slip, he wouldn’t lie; he seriously felt like crying.

He reached up with his left hand, struggling to get his grip again, before suddenly, he let go of the ledge. He panicked, holding on to whatever he could grab, but apparently the guy in the apartment was way ahead of him.

He held onto Arthur’s arm with both hands, and Arthur clung to his elbow. He felt himself slipping down this guy’s arm, and looked back up at him silently. Well, that’s the first time a potential target has ever actually helped him.

He pulled Arthur up higher, and Arthur struggled to get a grip on the windowsill. Fortunately, he did, and managed to push himself inside of the room with a little help from this guy he was supposed to be robbing.

Arthur landed on the floor with a winded exhale, and a thud. As the panic left his system, he was able to think clearly again. Arms still weak, he tried to prop himself up into a sitting position.

“What the hell were you doing out there?” The guy asked, half furious, half frightened. Oh right, Arthur was still trying to save his own ass here. He couldn’t exactly tell the guy he was trying to rob him, and couldn’t exactly CONTINUE robbing him either.

“You know, I was just out climbing buildings. It’s a hobby.” That was the shittiest excuse Arthur had ever heard, but it was whatever, really. This guy didn’t seem to think about it _too_ hard. He still asked questions. Good on him, he was smart.

“Why were you climbing without equipment?” He asked. Arthur had a little chuckle at that. “Uh, for the thrill, I guess. Feels better to do things the natural way.” Arthur was getting kind of tired of not knowing anything about this guy other than robber things. “So, like… who are you?”

“My name is Lewis,” he said, and Arthur nearly made a noise of relief. Finally, he could stop calling him “guy”. What was this, spy kids 3? “Who are you?” Lewis said.

Arthur held out his hand. “Call me Arthur,” he said. He winced at the pain in his right arm. God, he hoped he didn’t pull something. Lewis hesitated, and instead of shaking his hand, he grabbed Arthur’s arm and examined it. Arthur’s face heated up in embarrassment.

After a weird twist, Arthur hissed. God, that hurt. Curse the human body for being fragile. Lewis looked up at Arthur. “I think you pulled a tendon in your struggle or something.” Arthur huffed out a pained laugh. “What, are you a medic major or something?” Lewis looks away, bashful. “I’ve busted a lot of tendons in my life. I’m pretty athletic.”

_‘Pretty Athletic’_ was an understatement. This guy was pretty damn fit. He hauled a whole human being into his apartment in some record time. Arthur knew he was light for a guy, but god damn. That took like… one second. He didn’t even try that much, it was mostly Lewis.

Of course, now wasn’t exactly the best time to be thirsting over his robbery target, but Arthur gave himself a break. Lewis was pretty, after all, and pretty people were made for admiring.

His face was stunning, a strong jaw and a set of pearly white teeth. His hair was poofy and violet. His skin was darker than Arthur first thought, and not because of a tan. His skin was just like that. Like a smooth cup of hot cocoa. It made Arthur wanna melt.

Also, he was absolutely ripped. Arthur couldn’t ignore that. He’d already taken off his jacket, and he had on a long sleeved white shirt underneath. It was much too tight on his, Arthur thought, although maybe he was one to talk, as someone who wore clothes 3 sizes too large on purpose.

Lewis came back with a glass of water, and an aspirin. “Not much you can do but take this and get some rest,” he said. “Try not to use that arm.” Arthur took the water and aspirin gratefully. Once he took the aspirin, he set the cup down. Lewis looked around. “Do you like anywhere near here?”

“I live on campus,” Arthur mentioned. “It’s a while away.” He did- it was awful, but it was easy to snatch shit from other dorms nearby and watch as the people living there scrambled to blame one another.

Lewis pursed his lips in thought. “Why don’t you climb campus buildings then?”

Oh shit, right. He still wasn’t out of the hot water. “I used to,” he supplied as a first thought, “But wouldn’t you know climbing the walls of a school gets you in trouble.” He shifted where he sat. “Nobody cares if some dude is parkouring up an apartment building. Everyone cares if it’s a college.”

Arthur knew that didn’t make any sense, but Lewis seemed satisfied. “Do you need a ride?” he said. Arthur shrugged. “Dunno. I don’t wanna deal with my roommate. He’s a dick.” That much was true, actually. Some dude named Verden. What an asshole. “You think I could use this as an excuse to stay somewhere else tonight?”

Arthur knew it was a reach, but he could dream. And to his surprise, dreams do come true. Lewis smiled at him. “Sure, I mean, I don’t have a guest bed, but the couch pulls out. You need help getting it?”

Arthur nodded. “Yeah, much appreciated. Thanks a ton, Lew. Can I call ya that?” Lewis smiled. “Yeah, sure I don’t mind.” He paused. “It’s hard to think of a short version of Arthur.”

“Arthur works, Arthur chuckled, and Lewis hummed. Arthur followed Lewis to the living room. Lewis helped him pull the couch out into a bed, and then Lewis left to get Arthur some blankets. Arthur sat in the middle of the bed in thought.

He tried to rob a very attractive man’s house, and somehow, the very attractive man had not only failed to see that, but had welcome him -- _the robber_ \-- in to stay for the night. What a wicked twist huh?

Lewis came back with a comforter and a pillow. “Here, this should work.” He began to set the bed. Damn, this guy even made Arthur’s bed. He was way too polite. Arthur felt bad for trying to rob him. “Thanks, Lew,” he said quietly and sincerely. Lewis smiled. “It was no trouble. Hey, what class do you have in the morning? Maybe I can walk you, if it’s close.

Arthur blushed. “Oh, you don’t have to. But… it’s engineering.”

Lewis smiled. “That’s close to statistics. It’s in the same building. How haven’t we met yet?” Arthur shrugged. He would say _i’ve been avoiding you because I was stalking you to rob your house_ , but that seems kind of unnecessary. “Beats me,” he said. He settled on the couch-bed, pulling the blanket up and flipping over on his left side. “G’night.”

“Goodnight, Arthur,” Lewis said, and closed the door.

**Author's Note:**

> Do me a favor and comment... uh  
> Your favorite ice cream flavor + your favorite genre of music  
> I like to be interactive


End file.
